DAIRY AND SEED IMPROVEMENT MEETINGS. 253 



period, it is not necessar^^ to hire a large crew when wages are 

 high. 



Scientific rotation of the crops includes grasses, legumes, a 

 cultivated crop, and small grains. Legumes restore humus and 

 nitrogen to the soil, and take much of their own food supply 

 from the soil below the extent of the root systems of other crops, 

 and from the air. 



The grasses break up the subsoil by the penetration of their 

 roots and store up plant food, which, under the influence of the 

 air and sunshine, quickly becomes available for other plants. 



A cultivated crop gives a good opportunity to check weeds, 

 lightens up the soil, and allows the air and light to break up 

 the elements into available plant food. 



The grains, besides their importance as food, are valuable as 

 nurse crops for the young legumes. 



While no set rule can be made, owing to the difference in 

 climate and soil in various sections, the crop system which 

 meets these conditions the best throughout the country where 

 dairying is carried on is one composed of corn, oats, red clover, 

 and timothy, forming a four or five year rotation. 



Corn is the standby for dairy farmers everywhere. It gives 

 a chance for cultivation of the soil and the destruction of weeds, 

 and also furnishes an abundance of desirable roughage at a low 

 cost. It is the most reliable grain and forage crop that is 

 grown in the United States. With fair preparation of the soil 

 and a little attention, it is sure to produce a crop, but with bet- 

 ter preparation of the soil, and more fertihzer and more atten- 

 tion, the corn crop is certain to more than pay the difference in 

 the cost of production. 



For the country at large a variety of dent corn is the best, 

 although in some northern sections flint corn is more likely to 

 mature. The variety selected should be one that will reach 

 maturity before the early fall frosts. 



The ground for corn may be plowed either in the fall or the 

 early spring as is most convenient, unless the conditions of the 

 soil require spring plowing. Eight or ten cords of manure 

 should be applied to each acre and either plowed under or har- 

 rowed in. Then three to five hundred pounds of commercial 

 fertilizer put in the drill at planting time will do much toward 

 starting the root system. The corn should be planted as early 



